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Victor’s fingers on my pelt clenched like so many daggers into my stomach. But all I could think was: She?
The sole female member of the Acosta clan who knew I was a woelfin was Ruth. Ruth was also the one who’d argued for giving up Carly for the good of the larger pack.
Ruth had fought on behalf of the clan while her father was alpha. She’d supported Michael until it became clear the boy didn’t want to be pack leader. Was it such a stretch to think she might choose another puppet to rule through—one like Victor, allied with Carl—when her sex forced actual leadership out of her grasp?
I could even sympathize with her...until I considered Luke’s reaction to being betrayed by his sister. Even without my pelt, I found myself baring my teeth.
But I’d been lost in thought for too long. On the other side of the tree, more voices now joined Victor’s and Carl’s. Our opponents were converging. As Arthur had said, there were far too many for three of us to take on unarmed.
And I wasn’t going to uncover Ruth’s guilt or innocence standing around naked in the forest. No, we’d regroup. Head to Wolf Camp, where Luke should be waiting. Warn him about Ruth’s possible betrayal then return to gather my pelt once we’d evened the odds.
Bastion spoke one millisecond after I made my decision. “Are we agreed then?”
I nodded. Arthur, who’d been holding me back the whole time I pondered, loosened his grasp finger by finger.
Unfortunately, the decision to retreat didn’t make the plan’s execution any less chancy. I picked through memories—Luke’s, mine, ours together—in search of a path that would be hard for Victor and Carl to follow. Because it wouldn’t be long before someone caught wind of our trail and....
“Over here!” The shout was so close I swiveled, expecting to see a skinless.
No one was visible, but the voice had come from the route we’d traveled to get here. With werewolf noses, our present location would be sniffed out in short order.
Our time had officially run out.
***
I DON’T REMEMBER EXACTLY how we escaped the second time. No, that’s not quite true. I have flashes of memory. Icy water. A valley of trees knocked down by a freak windstorm. We hopped from horizontal trunk to horizontal trunk until our scent trail became less of a path and more of a puzzle.
But only half of my attention was on the present. The other half was spent guessing how Luke would react when he discovered Ruth had broken her vow to keep my identity secret. I stretched my mind, trying to contact him, despite agony throbbing behind both of my eyes.
“Luke, are you there?” I timed my words to the beat of feet against pavement. We’d hit the road and were flying so fast now my heels ached from each impact. “Are...you...there? Luke?”
Bastion and Arthur could have outpaced me easily given their ability to don wolf fur. But I was the one who knew where we were going and danger was more likely to arise behind us rather than before us. So even though we’d slipped our followers an hour ago, Bastion ran beside me while Arthur trailed behind.
They loped along easily while each of my own footsteps was a battle of will. Would I collapse into a heap or continue pushing forward? It was no fun being human running from wolves. Still...we’d escaped.
For now.
I was a hair’s breadth away from collapsing when Wolf Camp’s big metal mailbox came into view ahead of us. I forced my feet to move a little faster. Turning into the driveway, howls were now so distant I could almost consider them melodic background music rather than terrifying heralds of murderous intention.
Were our enemies getting closer? It was hard to tell. Still, I let myself slow as I picked my way along the weedy verge.
Because there was no way I could run on gravel. Not when my feet throbbed with each footstep. Plus, the cabins, I knew from my time spent here, lay just around the next bend. We were almost home free....
We were definitely close enough that Luke should have heard me. So I reached out for the thousandth time to contact him. “Be cautious with Ruth. I know she’s your sister but....”
I had no chance to finish the thought. Because someone two-legged and naked stepped out of the trees between me and the cabins.
Someone familiar and female. Scarred. Ruth.
I recognized Luke’s sister easily, but her expression threw me for a second. Instead of her usual surly disposition, wild joy lit up her entire frame.
She emanated triumph. Femininity. A power so intense she seemed to float rather than walk.
Then our eyes met and her face shut down as she offered words I’d never heard come out of her mouth before. “Honor, I’m sorry.”
The confirmation of her betrayal punched me in the gut.